DESCRIPTION (adapted from the application): A new interdepartmental program at Yale is described for training in Microbial Pathogenesis. The new Section of Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale has, at present, three faculty: Jorge Galan, the Principal Investigator of this training grant who is the Lucille B. Markey Professor of Microbiology and was recruited in 1998, Norma Andrews, who holds a joint appointment in the Department of Cell Biology, and Craig Roy, who came with Dr. Galan from Stony Brook. An increase in this program to seven faculty is expected during the next four years. There are 42 other faculty trainers in the program, drawn from basic science, medical and public health departments with credible common interests in microbial pathogenesis or biology. Training slots for ten graduate students per year are requested. In their first year, trainees will take both courses specialized Microbial Pathogenesis and courses common to students in other programs in BBS such as cell biology and genetics. Rotations through three laboratories are required before choosing a laboratory in which to perform Ph.D. research; the freedom of students to choose rotation laboratories outside the labs included as trainers in Microbial Pathogenesis is extremely important but was not addressed. In the second year, students continue course work, and take a qualifying examination at the end of the year. They continue to be overseen by a thesis committee, and are required to attend and present in the Microbiology Seminar Series, which alternates between outside speakers and in-house presentations of students and postdocs. An annual retreat of Microbiology students and faculty is cited as another opportunity to stimulate scientific exchange.